While the industry awaits information on the remaining $2.3 billion available through the EPA Clean School Bus Program, three U.S. representatives hope to extend the program through 2031, reauthorizing another $1 billion in funding annually for five more years.

To date, the CSBP has awarded $2.7 billion to replace more than 8,500 school buses, reaching nearly every U.S. state. More than 5,200 electric school buses funded through the program have already been delivered to schools. Ninety-one percent of the new school buses applied for were electric. The remaining 9 percent consisted mostly of propane with a small number of CNG also awarded. No new CNG-powered school bus models are being manufactured.

The Clean School Bus Reauthorization Act builds on the Clean School Bus Program funding included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in 2021. The program was expected to award $5 billion over five years, through competitive grants and rebates. However, following President Donald Trump’s return to office, the funding has reached a standstill. The last funding opportunity from the EPA was the 2024 Clean School Bus Rebate Program, which opened September 2024. However, the EPA canceled the rebate and no organizations received awarded funds. The last round of distributed funds was the 2023 rebate program.

The new legislation would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by replacing the program’s current authorization period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 with fiscal years 2027 through 2031. Under the existing statute, the program is authorized to receive $1 billion annually, totaling $5 billion. Rep. Jahana Hays, D-Conn., introduced the bill Oct. 9 and was joined by Reps. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, and Buddy Carter, R-Ga.

“Since I came to Congress in 2019, I have advocated for clean school bus funding. As an educator with over a decade of classroom experience, I know how damaging diesel exhaust can be for student well-being and learning. The consequences of diesel emissions extend to our environment, exacerbating the effects of greenhouse gas emissions,” Hayes said in a statement. “The Clean School Bus Reauthorization Act will help to provide cleaner and healthier air for school children in Connecticut and across the country, support clean energy jobs, and protect our environment for decades to come.”

The legislation would maintain the existing funding structure, which allocates $500 million annually for clean and zero-emission school buses and another $500 million exclusively for zero-emission school buses. Funding supports the replacement of older school buses with cleaner alternatives.

It does not establish new grant requirements or change program eligibility. Rather, it extends the existing authorization for five additional years.

According to a press release, The Clean School Bus Reauthorization Act is endorsed by the American School Bus Industry Coalition which includes Blue Bird, First Student, Beacon Mobility, National Express, Highland, Greenpower Motor Company, National School Transportation, Student Transportation of America, and IC Bus. Additional endorsers include the American Bus Association, American Asthma and Allergy Foundation (AAFA), League of Conservation Voters, Moms Clean Air Force, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, and World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Electric School Bus Initiative.

Sue Gander, director of WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative, stated that children’s health is not a partisan issue.

“As this bill shows, there’s real enthusiasm on both sides of the aisle to give children the clean ride to school they deserve,” she said. “This bipartisan support is no surprise, as 51 percent of school districts with electric school buses on the road or coming soon are in Congressional districts represented by Republicans.

Related: EPA Opens $180 Million in 2026 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act Grants 
Related: Oregon School Districts Make Case for Propane at STN EXPO West
Related: School Buses as Power Plants? Real-World V2G Journey Offers Roadmap
Related: Updated: EPA Seeks to Expand Fuel Scope of Clean School Bus Program

“The Clean School Bus Program has been a game-changer, answering school districts’ call to replace aging diesel buses with clean, zero-emissions vehicles in rural, suburban and urban communities alike,” Gander continued. “Replacing diesel buses with electric buses protects children from the dangers of diesel exhaust pollution, which disproportionately impacts low-income and Black communities.”

She added that electric school buses are popular with school districts that use them, especially the drivers behind the wheel. The number of ESBs on the road today is 12 times higher than it was five years ago, she noted.

“With diesel prices at record highs, Congress has a chance to help school districts save big on fuel costs and improve children’s health at the same time,” she said.

Meanwhile, First Student posted on Facebook that it welcomes the bipartisan introduction of the legislation.

“As the program’s largest recipient of funding, First Student has seen firsthand its importance in helping bring zero-emission school buses to our customers students and communities we serve,” the post reads. “Continued bipartisan support for this program is important to helping school districts and communities access funding for cleaner school bus technologies, including electric school buses.”

The school bus contractor added that reauthorizing the program would help preserve a pathway for Congress to continue supporting ESBs.

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All 100 U.S. Senators backed the Child Safety Network’s (CSN) latest call for September to be proclaimed National School Bus Safety Month, marking 13 years of bipartisan support.

CSN has worked since 1989 to protect children from injury, exploitation and other safety threats, while providing families, schools and student transportation professionals with education, resources and best practices. Each September, CSN promotes National School Bus Safety Month, encouraging parents, students, educators, motorists and school bus professionals to recognize their shared responsibility in keeping children safe on and around the school bus. Through its Safe Ride campaign, it supports the school bus industry with driver training, the latest technology and resources for transportation professionals, students, parents, and communities.

According to a press release, this year marks a milestone for CSN and its partners, as Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska enters her second decade of leadership as prime sponsor of the month.

“CSN is deeply grateful for Fischer’s sustained commitment to student transportation safety and for the bipartisan support of the senators who have helped carry this effort forward over the years,” the release states.

Fischer said she’s proud to introduce School Bus Safety Month with Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, to support transportation professionals who keep students safe.

Since 2018, Peters has repeatedly been the resolution’s lead Democratic co-sponsor, helping secure unanimous Senate support for National School Bus Safety Month and advance student safety nationwide, including for families throughout his home state. Peters is preparing to retire from the Senate at the conclusion of his term. This year marks his sixth and final year as the resolution’s lead Democratic co-sponsor. Lincoln is a Republican.

Senate Resolution 944 introduced and unanimously passed on Sept. 30 says school buses are the largest form of mass transportation in the U.S. In an average year, the proclamation reads, 48 percent of students in kindergarten through grade 12 ride a school bus, and school buses travel more than 4 billion miles during the school year. With billions of student boarding and unloading events occurring each school year, safety extends far beyond the time a child spends seated aboard the bus, the press release states.

The 2026 resolution also highlights the importance of collaboration among local, state and federal authorities, institutions of higher education, school transportation professionals, safety organizations, technology providers, and other partners working to identify and advance solutions to preventable transportation-safety threats, the press release adds.

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Related: School Slow Zones Expand in New York City to Increase Student Safety
Related: NTSB Investigates Fatal Florida School Bus Crash, Officials Praise Driver’s Response

“It encourages broadcast, digital-media and social-networking industries to help disseminate public-service messaging that provides free resources to safeguard children, recognizes school bus operators and transportation professionals, and encourages motorists to drive more safely near school buses as students board and disembark,” it continues.

The release adds that the month is also an opportunity to recognize and thank school bus operators and transportation professionals. “Every school day, families place extraordinary trust in the people responsible for getting children safely to school and safely home again,” the release concludes.

“Parents need to have the peace of mind that when they drop their kids off at the bus stop, they will get to school and back home safely,” said Peters. “I’m proud to again co-lead this bipartisan resolution with Senator Fischer to designate September as National School Bus Safety Month. This resolution will promote safe driving practices and help provide advanced training for school bus professionals to keep our kids safe on their way to and from school.”

Meanwhile, the third week of October is federally recognized as School Bus Safety Week.

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In a first of its kind, STN EXPO West introduced a new session series focused on the use of artificial intelligence in school transportation. Held July 14, the track focused on AI in dispatch, personnel productivity, budgeting, fleet management, risk mitigation and bell schedules. Prior to the six breakout sessions, a general session “Beyond ChatGPT: The AI Revolution in Student Transportation,” consisted of all AI session speakers and served as an opening panel, helping transportation leaders cut through the hype to define what AI actually is—and isn’t—today.

Moderated by STN Editor-in-Chief Ryan Gray, the panel consisted of Richard Jimenez, director of transportation for Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District; Timothy Purvis of Pupil Transportation Information; GP Singh, the founder of Bytecurve and a strategic advisor to Transit Technologies after selling his company last year; and Rosalyn Vann-Jackson, Ph.D., the executive director of enrollment and student services for Broken Arrow Public Schools in Oklahoma and founder/CEO of Bloom Bigger Coaching.

The panel dissected AI’s transformative impact, referencing tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Claude. It spotlighted Broken Arrow’s integration of AI for daily operations, policy analysis, comparative studies on sick leave and overtime (notably for special education aides), and public records requests.

Jimenez shared how AI use at Placentia-Yorba Linda streamlines compliance, special education (IEP/IDEA) processes, legal messaging to parents, and multi-services bid response summarization, reducing manual workloads and enhancing communication.

Tim Purvis, however warned of data exposure risks in field trip and alternative transportation bids, public records requests and contract reviews, reinforcing the “bad data in, bad data out” principle. He advocated for robust policies like Broken Arrow’s Vision and Mission.

Singh clarified that true AI synthesizes multi-source data for actionable insights, distinguishing it from mere automation and recommended retrieval augmented generation (RAG) for fact-based outputs. The panel outlined essential AI safeguards: Exclusive use of IT-approved and licensed tools, multi-factor authentication, and strict avoidance of uploading confidential or personally identifiable information.

The panelists detailed the many ways AI is being integrated into school transportation operations, from predictive maintenance, vehicle diagnostics, telematics, and fleet management to dispatch automation, field trip planning, attendance tracking, and master bell schedule optimization. They also highlighted applications in driver and employee performance, including driver coaching, behind-the-wheel assessments, accident analysis, training plan development, safety modules, and automated performance reviews.

Beyond daily operations, panelists described using AI to support budgeting, identify contract issues, research laws and regulations, analyze public documents and district-specific data, plan travel, develop parent communication templates, and even compare social media claims with more reliable information.

A recurring theme was the importance of “context engineering,” or providing AI tools with detailed, relevant instructions. Panelists recommended using prompts of roughly 300 words tailored to a district’s specific needs. They also encouraged gradual staff adoption, internal model training and continued human review to reduce errors and prevent AI-generated misinformation or “hallucinations.”

Survey data of 23 STN EXPO attendees found that 65 percent of respondents use AI at least occasionally or daily, with ChatGPT dominating use. Eighty-two percent of respondents are using it for writing emails/communications. Whereas 59 percent are using AI for customer/parent communication, 45 percent for policy or document drafting, 41 percent for training or onboarding materials. The percentage falls to 32 percent for data analysis and reporting. The lowest use cases are database/app development (14 percent) and routing/logistics support (9 percent). Plus, the survey found that most districts are still in “Wild West” mode with only 33 percent having formal organization-wide guidance and policies.Lack of training at 68 percent is the main driver for holding transportation employees back from using AI.

Cathy Whitney, transportation coordinator at Glenn County Office of Education in California, shared with School Transportation News after the conference that she is still new to use of AI. She said she doesn’t believe her organization has any policies or guidance on use cases.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how it can help and improve on what we’re already doing that may save time and save the funds for other needed items. It’s exciting to see how fast it’s growing and the things that it can do in a very short time,” she added.

However, her biggest fear is getting the wrong information and using it in a report or a way that presents false information. “When I was at the STN [EXPO] conference, they kept saying check and make sure that the information is correct. We already do that in our regular lives every day,” Whitney added. “I think a lot of people are unsure or aren’t good with change and [fear] that AI is going to take jobs away from other people. I think they would have to see the positive side and see how it helps them in their lives and jobs to save time.”

Her takeaway from the sessions was to learn more about AI. “I want to create and gather data by putting information into AI that would [normally] take me hours to do and have it create it in a very short time. I look forward to a future with AI in it,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, Keba Baldwin, the director of transportation and central garage for Prince George’s County Schools in Maryland, shared on the School Transportation Nation podcast that his district has adopted AI policies and is cautious about its AI use cases. He said transportation is unable to use ChatGPT or Claude because they don’t meet the district’s security standards.

In a year’s time, PGCPS has expanded from using AI for help crafting emails to now analyzing data. “I’m thankful it’s helping to cut some of our workload in half,” he said on Episode 319. “But the technology is still developing, and we just want to keep up with it.”

When navigating vendors who say they have AI integrated into their technology suites, Baldwin advised asking the right questions. “At the end of the day, I need to know if their infrastructure can align with my infrastructure to get us the outcome,” he said, adding that some companies might not even meet the district security measures, and student transporters should be aware of that.

“How much time it’s going to take to implement? What’s the customer care on that? Can I call you 24/7?” he said of some other questions to ask. Additionally, he said technology demos are great but remain at surface level. When implementing new technology, he advised directors to get into the weeds of the offerings.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the September 2026 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: District Says ‘No Looking Back’ After Using Artificial Intelligence Routing System
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Related: An Autonomous Near-Future? ‘AI’ Think So
Related: Is Safety Everyone’s Responsibility?

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The September issue explores how technology is reshaping school transportation, from AI and connected tools to video systems, routing and communications. Learn how Allentown School District is using technology to improve safety and operations, hear from Los Angeles Unified School District’s new superintendent on transportation’s role in student access and discover how districts are navigating the shift to cloud-based video storage. Plus, get practical insights on implementing AI with guardrails and using technology to support drivers and transportation teams.

Read the full September issue.

Cover Story

Tech Focused
Student transportation leaders at Pennsylvania’s Allentown School District are turning connected tools into safer service and operational gains, using technology to improve communication, efficiency and the student experience.

Features

The Video Storage Shift
As school bus camera systems become more sophisticated, districts are weighing cloud, local and hybrid storage options while balancing accessibility, cost, cybersecurity and student privacy.

Driver Training Goes High-Tech
Technology is changing how transportation departments approach driver training, coaching, safety and performance.

Improving Communications With Technology
New technology is giving transportation teams more ways to communicate with drivers, families and administrators while improving visibility and service.

Special Report

AI Takes a Larger Role in School Transportation Management
Transportation leaders explore how AI can support dispatch, fleet management, budgeting, driver training and other operations while emphasizing policies, safeguards and responsible use.

Q&A 

Transportation’s True Value
Los Angeles Unified School District’s new superintendent discusses transportation’s role in student access, educational opportunity, operational efficiency and student success.

Conversations

Ad Index

Columns

Editor’s Take by Ryan Gray
Don’t Bury the ‘Lede’

Publisher’s Corner by Tony Corpin
School is Back, So Are Safety Risks

Thought Leader By Tim Ammon
Changing Times, Perspectives

The post September 2026 appeared first on School Transportation News.

As students nationwide return to school, the work completed on school buses throughout the summer helps ensure they start classes with a safe, reliable ride.

Harley Pinson, assistant director of transportation fleet maintenance for Paulding County Schools in Georgia, said each summer mechanics inspect all areas of school buses to establish a baseline of their condition and identify aspects that drivers might not be aware of.

“We try not to prioritize one area over another,” added Pinson, an instructor for the STN EXPO National School Bus Inspection Program and a co-developer of the Georgia Association for Pupil Transportation inspector certification. “This gives us an overall view of the condition of the bus, not just safety-related items, although safety remains our highest priority. We also complete mileage-related maintenance, such as replacing spark plugs and fuel filters, along with oil changes that are due or will become due shortly after the school year begins.”

While noting the importance of checking HVAC, battery, tires and brakes, he said those are not simply summer tasks. “I feel it is important to check these items every time a bus comes in for service, not just during the summer,” he said.

Pinson added that mechanics and technicians also use the summer to update supplemental systems, such as DVR firmware, onboard mapping systems and two-way radios. “In addition, we schedule fire extinguisher inspections, fueling site inspections, and complete any other tasks that are easier to perform while the buses are not in daily route service.”

Meanwhile, in Texas, Duran Hargest III, director of fleet services for Dallas Independent School District in Texas, said during the summer vehicle repairs are their top priority.

“We focus on multiple departments within our fleet, ensuring that everything runs smoothly,” he said. “This includes making sure the air conditioning is functioning properly on our school buses, servicing the reefer units on our refrigerated trucks for food delivery to campuses and maintaining the ground equipment to keep the campuses in good condition.”

Gary Harlow, the shop manager of Coffee County Schools in Tennessee, said the work he prioritizes over summer is safety. “Anything we got to do to be safe for transporting children: The precious cargo,” he said. “We got to make sure safety first and foremost over everything. Whether it be tires, freight shoes, alarm buzzers.”

He said shop technicians aren’t doing their job if they’re not looking for potential mishaps. He said summer is an essential time for catching any problems, especially as during the school year many members of his maintenance team are driving routes.

“I’m big on brake lining, brake wear, drums,” he said, adding techs check all the windows, door buzzers and eight-way lights. “We need to make sure we’re doing our job to the utmost high standard it can possibly be.”

Detailing Summer Maintenance

Georgia’s Pinson said taking care of known issues during the summer allows the team to be better prepared to handle unexpected issues that arise when drivers and students return to school.

“Summer can be a challenging time because many systems are finishing one fiscal year budget while beginning the next,” he said. “If the work is not planned properly, you can run out of funds while still having plenty of work left to complete. Planning work around employee vacations, training and conferences can also be a challenge.”

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Hargest in Texas said that regardless of summer or winter, the maintenance team services the vehicles continuously throughout the year, every 3,000 to 6,000 miles. He noted that fleets could make mistakes when planning summer service, if they don’t have maintenance software to track repairs and alert for overdue services.

Tennessee’s Harlow said catching problems during the summer prevents bigger issues later down in the school year. He said the district does a lot with their buses, including all the fueling on site. So, a common practice when drivers are fueling their buses, the mechanics will be at the fuel island checking oil, brakes and tires.

He said common mistakes are not checking belts, batteries and alternator outputs.

“I come from the trucking world. I got into the [student] transportation side, and I’ve only worked in one shop as far as transportation,” Harlow said. “I really don’t know how other transportation mechanics vibe, but we have discussed, me and my guys, going to other shops and seeing how they operate to see if there’s something we can take away from that.”

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The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services reiterated its support of the use of lap/shoulder seatbelts for the safety of student passengers by calling for the occupant restraints in all new school buses.

NASDPTS, the first industry association to openly support the use of the safety restraints on school buses, evolved its stance from first recommending the equipment in 2008 to requiring enforceable use in 2014.

In May 2020, NASDPTS consolidated that record into policy. It supported requiring the installation and use of lap/shoulder belts in all new school buses, accompanied by student training, evacuation drills that include unbuckling, trip safety briefings and enforcement. The paper emphasized that lap/shoulder belts supplement compartmentalization, which National Transportation Safety Board investigations have concluded provides limited protection in rollovers, side impacts and secondary collisions. It also cited NHTSA’s estimate that universal installation and proper use on large buses could prevent 1,898 injuries and 2.13 fatalities annually. At the time, NASDPTS considered retrofitting seatbelts on legacy school buses to be a local decision dependent upon technical, legal and compatibility reviews.

The update announced Monday states that “lap/shoulder belts provide the safest form of occupant protection inside a school bus.” NASDPTS recommends installing and using the belts in all new school buses. Additionally, states and local jurisdictions are encouraged to establish enforcement policies and procedures, NASDPTS adds, noting that all students must use the belts and must be trained on how to use them properly.

Training, NASDPTS noted, must include proper use and adjustment of passengers. All students transported via a school bus must participate in regular evacuation drills, including unbuckling exercisers.

“Prior to every field or activity trip, the school bus driver or other designated personnel must provide a safety briefing to all students and adult passengers that includes the required use of the belts, the location and use of the exists and the location of the emergency equipment,” NASDPTS states. “Jurisdictions must adopt and implement related policies, notices, training and appropriate enforcement.”

NASDPTS also clarified that school bus drivers are only expected to make reasonable efforts to enforce seatbelt usage.

Related: NASDPTS Responds to Latest NTSB Safety Recommendations for School Buses
Related: School Districts Look for Innovative Approaches to Recruiting and Training
Related: As New School Year Starts, Fall Conference Agendas Announced
Related: Watch: Michigan Association Releases Lomas Brown PSA for Back to School

The position adds that retrofitting existing school buses with lap/shoulder seatbelts should only be considered after consultation with the original equipment manufacturer for that specific school bus. The state director’s association adds that retrofits could be considered unsafe, “as not all buses are built to specifications needed to support seatbelts. In addition, any change to a school bus could be in violation of the manufacturer warranty.”

“NASDPTS fully supports required installation and use of lap/shoulder belts in new school buses,” the paper concluded. “When school buses are equipped with lap/shoulder belts, a mandatory usage policy must also be in place, along with necessary training of employees and students on the importance of wearing and using the belts properly. Training and procedures must include effective evacuation training and drills.”

The association recommends that state directors and industry leaders should work together to ensure that legislators and other state policy makers “are educated on the existing safety record of school buses. Their discussions should emphasize the added safety benefits provided by lap/shoulder belts and the need to ensure that funding levels and service requirements support the availability of school buses to serve parents’ and students’ needs.”

NASDPTS also commented on commonly cited reasons from seatbelt opponents why school buses should only rely on compartmentalization to protect passengers. The paper states that modern seat and belts designs now largely maintain bus ridership capacity and minimize the risk of the belts being used by students as weapons. Additionally, NASDTS said buckles are designed for easy release to aide in fast evacuation in the case of an emergency.

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“Every mile and every stop has a cost,” pointed out Kacy L. Davis, Sr., the transportation director for St. Louis (Missouri) Public Schools (SLPS) transportation director.

The return on investment in routing analytics is the ability for a transportation department to identify factors that are central to creating fuel efficiency practices in the wake of identifying waste.

Routing analytics is the foundation of fuel efficiency for school transportation vehicles, and fuel efficiency has been top-of-mind in recent months for school transportation departments against the backdrop of rising fuel costs.

Until routing analytics came upon the scene, transportation departments may have focused on driver behavior to identify fuel inefficiencies to the exclusion of other factors.

Through a transportation department’s use of routing analytics, fuel efficiency is no longer viewed as a driver-only issue but is instead becoming increasingly recognized by districts as a product of routing design, operational planning and continuous route analysis, among other factors.

“When a district is operating routes with ghost stops, duplicated coverage between two buses serving the same corridor, or bell times that force buses to idle between runs, no amount of driver coaching recovers those losses,” pointed out Craig Berndt, Geotab business segment manager of people transportation, on the value of using routing analytics.

Routing analytics provide visibility to a wide range of school transportation inefficiencies, Berndt said, adding, “Once you can see it, you can address it.”

Creating route optimization through data and routing analytics is a significant driving factor in mileage — and thus fuel — reductions, transportation directors noted.

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“At current diesel prices, that’s a meaningful budget line,” Berndt said. “And unlike one-time capital purchases, route efficiency compounds over time as the district builds the discipline of comparing planned routes versus actual routes continuously.”

Jason Hibbard, supervisor of transportation for the Chenango Valley Central School District in Binghamton, New York, concurred that school transportation routing analytics are critical to fuel efficiency by highlighting route efficiency issues that had previously been behind the scenes.

Those issues might include multiple drivers assigned to the same neighborhood or area, or students being added to certain routes. Drivers can easily be asked to double back and travel unnecessary mileage. Another factor is a rapid student load change over the school year, drastically affecting the timing of buses reaching schools, said Hibbard.

Kathy Calkins, North Clackamas (Oregon) School District transportation director, agreed with other directors in that using routing analytics helps to address the challenge of deadhead miles when buses travel without students, among other challenges.

“Analyzing ridership patterns helps us align routes with actual student counts rather than outdated historical data,” she pointed out. “Maximizing the efficiency of every mile driven directly reduces daily fuel burn, driver labor hours and cumulative wear and tear across the entire fleet.”

Routing analytics as the foundation of creating fuel efficiency also is embraced by Jackson County Schools in West Virginia where transportation supervisor Rich Castro praises it for offering an “eagle’s eye view of mapping and routing.”

The post Routing Analytics Matter for Fuel Efficiency, Experts Agree appeared first on School Transportation News.

Industry conferences are gearing up for the fall season, and agendas are being released with the latest and greatest information for student transportation professionals who are heading back to work for the new school year.

The National Association for Pupil Transportation’s 49th Annual Conference and Trade Show, NAPT ACTS 2026, will take place Oct. 3–7, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky. This year’s theme, “Building Leaders for the Route Ahead,” emphasizes leadership development, professional learning and stronger connections across the student transportation community.

The five-day program is designed for transportation directors, fleet and maintenance professionals, trainers, routers, safety specialists and other school transportation leaders. It includes more than 40 sessions and workshops, over 10 NAPT Professional Development Series courses, and four certification pathways. Topics cover operational safety, crisis communication, data-driven decision-making, strategic and facility planning, student behavior, transporting students with disabilities, workforce retention, preventive maintenance, regulatory compliance and transportation technology.

Specialized programming includes workshops for new directors and maintenance teams, a national transportation briefing, recertification sessions and a Transportation Directors Executive Forum.

The trade show takes place Oct. 5, where attendees can explore school transportation products, technology and services and connect directly with industry suppliers.

Networking is built throughout the event through a first timers’ breakfast, marketplace sessions, receptions, regional assemblies, social events and sponsor demonstrations. The keynote, “Achieving Rock Star Status in Your Profession,” will be delivered by drummer and leadership speaker Kenny Aronoff, drawing lessons from high-performance music environments about teamwork, communication, creativity and collaboration.

Nearly a month later, the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference kicks off, hosting a Transportation Director Summit for the first time. Hosted by School Transportation News, the event will take place Nov. 4–10, 2026, in Frisco, Texas, and brings together school transportation and special-education professionals from across the country to improve the safety, accessibility and quality of transportation provided to students with disabilities and preschool-age children.

The conference is intended for transportation directors, fleet managers, driver trainers, school bus drivers, aides and monitors, special-education professionals, Head Start and childcare staff, superintendents, executives, manufacturers and industry suppliers. Its program combines educational sessions, hands-on training, product demonstrations and networking opportunities focused specifically on the operational and legal challenges of specialized student transportation.

Educational topics include individualized education and transportation plan development, funding amid the U.S. Department of Education moving IDEA to Health and Human Services, student-data protection, positive behavior support, transporting medically fragile students, wheelchair securement, school bus aide and monitor training, updated national specifications, and the use of artificial intelligence in transportation operations. The program also includes American Sign Language training, child-passenger safety instruction and sessions addressing accessibility and inclusive transportation practices.

A major component of the event is its specialized training. Attendees can participate in a national course on child-passenger safety aboard school buses, including hands-on practice with child safety restraint systems for preschoolers and students with disabilities. Other experiences include wheelchair-securement training, a special-needs transportation roadeo and workshops that allow participants to practice procedures rather than learning exclusively through classroom presentations.

New for 2026 is the two-day Transportation Director Summit, held Nov. 4–5. This limited-capacity program is designed for qualified transportation directors and fleet leaders and focuses on leadership, trust, innovation, peer problem-solving and collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers. Participants will take part in expert presentations, small-group discussions and structured networking before the main conference begins.

The TSD Trade Show will feature dozens of exhibitors presenting specialized buses, wheelchair and occupant-restraint equipment, safety systems, fleet software, video technology and other products developed for transporting students with additional needs. A trade-show reception provides attendees with an informal setting to meet suppliers, examine equipment and discuss potential solutions for their local operations.

Related: New Date Set for NHTSA Child Passenger Safety Training at TSD
Related: Update: Transfinder Sweeps 2026 STN EXPO West Innovation Choice Awards
Related: Illegal School Bus Passing Numbers Indicate Decrease, Still Too Many
Related: Ohio State Highway Patrol Urges Motorists to Prioritize School Bus Safety
Related: School Bus Driver Shortages Create Wider Consequences for Students

Later that week, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services Annual Conference kicks off, Nov. 14-17 at The Ritz-Carlton, in Arlington, Virginia. The members-only event brings together state pupil transportation directors, state agency staff, transportation association leaders, federal officials, manufacturers, suppliers and other industry professionals.

The conference focuses on policy, regulation, safety and operational issues affecting school transportation at the state and national levels. Its location near Washington, D.C., gives attendees the opportunity to hear directly from federal transportation and safety partners. Invited agencies include the National Transportation Safety Board, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Transportation Security Administration.

Educational sessions address training, transportation for students with special needs, school bus crash investigations and emerging trends in pupil transportation. State directors will also lead discussions about the most significant challenges facing school transportation programs, allowing attendees to compare policies, share practices and examine how different states are responding to common safety and operational concerns.

The event also includes keynote presentations, group meals and networking opportunities intended to strengthen collaboration among government agencies, state transportation leaders and private-sector partners. Unlike a traditional trade show, NASDPTS hosts a smaller Supplier Showcase and Networking Session, scheduled for Nov. 15. The tabletop format allows suppliers to present products, services and industry innovations while meeting directly with state directors and other transportation decision-makers.

Written with the assistance of AI.

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DENVER, Colo. — National Association of School Transportation members saw the installation of a new board as well as several awardees during its July 19-22 annual meeting.

The event at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel introduced three new at-large board of directors: Scott Burkoth, vice president of mergers and acquisitions at First Student; Denis Gallagher, Jr., senior vice president of operations at Student Transportation of America; and Jacob Iverson, senior vice president of Landmark Student Transportation as the new. Michael Ahern, CEO at Karpf School Bus was elected Region I Director and David Duke, chief development officer at Beacon Mobility, was elected Region 4 Director.

The Blake A. Krapf Distinguished Service Award went to Bobbie Harman of First Student, the school bus contractor’s senior director of customer and community engagement, in recognition of “recent, significant, substantial and special contributions to pupil transportation contracting.” NSTA memorialized Krapf’s name on the award last year following his death.

B.R. Williams Inc., of New Jersey took home the Contractor of the Year Award, presented in by NSTA in partnership with School Transportation News. Cameron Wood, the 2026 STN Innovator of the Year, was also acknowledged during the annual meeting.

Related: Historic Year for Minnesota School Bus Contractor Punctuated by NSTA Award
Related: Illegal School Bus Passing Numbers Indicate Decrease, ‘Still Too Many’
Related: (STN Podcast E315) Onsite at STN EXPO West, Pt. 2: Oregon District Tackles Driver Shortages, Student Behavior
Related: Wyoming Pupil Transportation Conference Expands Training, Networking Opportunities

John Elliott, Jr., senior vice president of customer operations at Summit School Services, was awarded the Golden Merit Award for his exceptional dedication to service excellence in the student transportation industry. The Golden Merit Award, introduced in 1969, recognizes school bus professionals who have demonstrated excellence and dedication in service and safety in student transportation. Award recipients are also selected based on their contributions to the industry and their exemplification of outstanding leadership, innovation and decision-making throughout their careers.

AMF-Bruns was announced as the NSTA Vendor Partner of the Year. The award goes to a vendor who has offered superior support to NSTA through committee service, financial commitment and educational contributions to the organization, as well as student transportation as a whole.

Finally, Pat Regan, president of Minnesota Coaches that has been in business serving school districts since 1959, was inducted into the  NSTA Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame recognizes excellence in long-term efforts on behalf of the pupil transportation industry.

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RENO, Nev. — STN EXPO West 2026 took place July 9-15 in Reno, Nevada, offering a week of professional development, leadership training, technology demonstrations and networking for student transportation professionals.

The conference began with registration, a kick-off reception and a poolside welcome event. Friday and Saturday featured specialized training on school bus inspections, active-threat response, mobility securement, reasonable suspicion and transportation supervision. The Transportation Director Summit kicked off that night with leadership discussions and an interactive session at Lake Tahoe the next day.

Main conference programming began Sunday with the Innovator of the Year Award, Green Bus Summit and Bus Technology Summit. Sessions explore alternative fuels, electric school bus infrastructure, artificial intelligence, routing, cameras, illegal passing and student safety. The day concludes with the Ride & Drive and live technology demonstrations.

Monday opened with the Peter J. Grandolfo Memorial Award of Excellence and a keynote presentation by Bruce Turkel. Breakout sessions address fleet management, communication, employee fatigue, artificial intelligence and safety technology. Attendees can later visited the “Wonderland of Ideas” Trade Show and networking reception.

Tuesday included a state-of-the-industry presentation, a leadership-focused general session with military veterans and the second day of the Trade Show. Afternoon sessions covered dispatch, budgeting, fleet operations, personnel productivity and practical uses of artificial intelligence.

The conference concluded Wednesday with an executive training session led by NAPT Hall of Fame members Dick Fischer and Pete Baxter. The session focused on safety leadership, emergency preparedness and recognizing warning signs before incidents occur.

Throughout the event, attendees connected with industry peers, explored new products and gained practical strategies for improving student transportation safety, efficiency and leadership. (Photos by Vincent Rios Creative.)

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DENVER, Colo. — Despite a decline in the number of illegal passers, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) said the problem is far from resolved.

In the most recent one-day count of illegal passers, announced Tuesday at the National School Transportation Association Annual Meeting and Convention, NASDPTS Executive Director Ronna Weber said 101,334 participating school bus drivers, accounting for 26.2 percent of the nation’s school bus drivers throughout 39 states and the District of Columbia, reported that 56,024 vehicles passed their buses illegally on a single day during the 2025-2026 school year.

Adjusting for 100 percent of the school bus drivers in the U.S., NASDPTS extrapolated just over 213,800 illegal passings each day. Projected across a 180-day school year, the agency noted that these sample results point to more than 38.4 million violations per year among the motoring public.

“As the projected violations for the 2024-2025 school year were 39.3 million, and the projected violations for the 2023-2024 school year were 45.2 million violations, we are noticing a trend in the reduction of the number of illegal passings,” NASDPTS said via a press release. “The problem of illegal passings, however, is far from resolved.”

NASDPTS President Mike Stier of the Illinois State Board of Education noted that while the state directors are pleased to see another reduction in the number of illegal passings, “38.4 million illegal passings is still entirely too many.”

He added that NASDPTS “continues to encourage each state to raise awareness on this important safety issue and to do everything possible to ensure motorists put the safety of school children first.”

Illegal Passing Survey Indicates Latest Violation Trends

When looking at the data, on average, the survey recorded about one violation for every two bus drivers participating in the voluntary survey. Afternoon routes accounted for the largest share of violations, with 28,596 illegal passes reported, representing 51 percent of the total. Morning routes accounted for 25,707 violations, or nearly 46 percent. Midday routes represented just over 3 percent with 1,721 incidents.

Most violations involved motorists approaching from the opposite direction. Plus, nearly 64 percent of illegal passes occurred from the front of the school bus, compared with about 36 percent from the rear.

Florida reported the highest overall number of violations, followed by California, Georgia and Texas. Together, those four states accounted for roughly 60 percent of all reported incidents. However, state-by-state comparisons should be viewed cautiously because participation levels varied and the survey did not account for route mileage, traffic volume, number of stops or roadway type.

The 11th annual survey began in 2014 and since has only missed 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 and the resulting school closures across the country.

“In recent years, several states have increased penalties for violations, authorized the use of photo evidence for issuing citations, or enacted other measures designed to deter this dangerous practice,” NASDPTS said.

Related: WATCH: West Virginia Releases Illegal Passing Awareness Video
Related: Scientific Approach to Illegal Passing Issue Coming to STN EXPO West
Related: WATCH: Michigan Association Releases Illegal Passing PSA for School Bus Safety Week
Related: Detroit Lions Retired Offensive Lineman Joins Latest Michigan Illegal Passing Awareness Campaign

At STN EXPO West last week, Michael Hout, Ph.D., the associate dean for research at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, delivered a comprehensive scientific perspective on the persistent problem of illegal school bus stop arm passing. Collaborating with Ward Leber and the Child Safety Network, Hout drew on his expertise in psychology and kinesiology, focusing on visual attention, perception, memory, decision making, and the phenomenon of “look but fail to see errors.”

During his session he emphasized the limitations of violation counts, advocating for more comprehensive data that include legal stops, routes, communities, time of day, and baseline denominators. He referenced the NASDPTS one-day survey, noting that while it’s a start, it’s not a full representation of the problem. Because drivers are counting these instances themselves, he added, there is a margin of error.

He recommended supplementing human observation with video cameras and other assistive tools. Behaviors such as reaction times, fixations, braking, steering, and eye movement control are where recording errors can occur, he noted.

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